Thursday, September 3, 2015

Michigan voters remain steadfast in support of post-Labor Day school start

Once again, Michigan voters have overwhelmingly spoken in favor of starting the school year after the Labor Day holiday, according to a statewide survey of 1,075 likely 2016 voters conducted by Mitchell Research & Communications August 8-10, 2015.

The survey of Michigan voters found that nearly three-fourths support the law requiring all public school districts to start after Labor Day. Support remains strong at 64% even when Labor Day falls late in the calendar year as is the case this year. The poll also found that August was the most favorite month for Michigan family vacations, by a seven point margin over July.

"Michiganders overwhelmingly want to keep all of their summer vacation, especially in the month of August," said Dave Clouse, chairman of the Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association (MLTA) and general manager of the Quality Inn Forward Conference Center in West Branch. "A post Labor Day School start means more time to make family memories that last a lifetime."

Support for the post-Labor Day school start crosses all age, race, gender, political, and geographic segments. "Michigan voters continue to embrace starting school after Labor Day," said Steve Yencich, President and CEO of the Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association. "Summer is by far our industry's biggest season and July and August are the most predictably warm months. Voter opinion and plain old common sense tell us starting school after Labor Day is as good for Michigan families as it is for our state's economic future." said Yencich.

In addition to valuable family time, a later school start grows tourism, Michigan's third largest industry. In 2014, tourism generated $19.5 billion in economic activity, 214,000 jobs and over $1 billion in state tax revenue. The vast majority of these impacts are generated during the summer, especially in July and August.